Police News

March 06, 1999

MANCHESTER

* A Windsor teenager led police officers on a foot chase Thursday through the woods near the Hockanum River, injuring one of the officers.

Robert Alan Vallier, 16, of 96 Macktown Road, and a friend were seen hanging around the locker room of Bally's Health and Fitness when a patron noticed $84 missing from his locker. The money was later found in the bushes outside the gym near where Vallier had been smoking a cigarette moments before, police and gym employees said.

When Officers Robert LeDuc and Steven Coughlin were about to handcuff Vallier, he ran out the front door and headed for the river.

Coughlin fell while making a sharp turn during the chase, hitting the pavement hard and scraping his arms and legs badly. Near the river, LeDuc threw his wooden baton at Vallier's feet to trip him and was then able to handcuff him.

Vallier was charged with sixth- degree larceny, interfering with police, second-degree escape, destruction of evidence and assaulting a police officer. He was held in lieu of $30,000.

Police charged his friend, James Richard Giuliano, 17, of 124 E. Wolcott Ave., Windsor, with sixth- degree larceny and interfering with police. He was held in lieu of $5,000.

* A Bell Atlantic Mobile kiosk in the Buckland Hills Mall was burglarized Thursday night, and $400 worth of cellular phones were taken.

The phones had not been activated and cannot be used. Police are reviewing the tape from a nearby security camera that is pointed at the kiosk.

COLCHESTER

* A teenager has been arrested in connection with burglaries in Colchester and Hebron. Police said other arrests are expected.

Michael S. Hunter, 17, of 42 Bass Lake Road, Hebron, was charged Thursday with third-degree burglary and fourth-degree larceny in connection with a burglary last month at a residence in the center of Colchester, police said.

Hunter is accused of taking $400 in money and other items, which have not been recovered, from the house.

He was also charged with burglary and larceny on Feb. 9 in connection with a burglary in Hebron.

Police said they are investigating whether Hunter is involved in other burglaries, particularly in the Colchester business district.

He was held in lieu of $5,000 and scheduled to appear Tuesday in Superior Court in Norwich.

* A mailbox on Taylor Road was damaged by two shotgun blasts Thursday, police said.

The homeowner heard gunshots and found a large hole in his mailbox. Two shotgun shells were found nearby.

Police are investigating the incident. Anyone with any information is asked to call Colchester Officer James Classon at (860) 537-7270.

* A Hartford man was arrested Thursday after he allegedly grabbed the steering wheel while his wife was driving, causing the car to crash on Route 2 near Exit 16, police said.

No one was injured in the 9:40 p.m. incident, which apparently occurred after the couple became involved in a fight.

John Welles, 34, of 17 Ashley St., Hartford, was charged with reckless endangerment and breach of peace. He was held in lieu of $2,500 and was arraigned Friday in Superior Court in Norwich.

GLASTONBURY

* A man who told friends he liked their wooden swing was arrested after allegedly stealing it and setting it up in his own yard, police said.

Francis Korzenko, 38, of 25 Bellevue St., Meriden, was charged Thursday with fifth-degree larceny after he turned himself in to officers, police said Friday.

The arrest stems from a Jan. 17 report in which residents of a Main Street home reported that their woodenporch swing was gone, police said. After learning that Korzenko had ``expressed admiration for the swing,'' officers turned their investigation toward him and recovered the swing at his home, Glastonbury police Sgt. Jay Kehoe said.

Korzenko was released on a $500 nonsurety bond and is scheduled to appear Wednesday in Manchester Superior Court.